Tag Archives: europe

Our First Day in Paris

October 1, 2016 Hobie Leave a comment

Sunday, Sept 11, 2016 – Paris, Day 1

<– Previously, we depart LA in style to get to Paris

Arrival in Paris:

Our flight got in without incident and we ended up getting a priority pass for Customs, which was good but probably not necessary for us as we got to customs first, but holy cow, after we had gotten into line, it seemed like EVERY flight arrived at the same time as that hall filled up fast. Soon enough we were through customs though, seeing our first French hotness, which there was plenty of during our time in Paris, and then it was time to get our pre-booked shuttle into town. That took a little bit of time, which was okay, as obviously we likely weren’t going to get our hotel room as we were arriving around 8am.

The shuttle was a nice drive into town, with a bit of rain, which was the only day when we experienced any bit of precipitation. The first drop-off was a hotel right near the Moulin Rouge which was of course going to be a destination for us shortly! It was also nice to be driving around early Sunday morning as there was minimal traffic to deal with.

Outside CDG terminal waiting for our ride

Possibly exhausted, definitely ready for the day anyway

Saw this ferris wheel near the Place de la Concorde on the ride in to our hotel

Hotel du Jeu de Paume – Our Parisian HQ

We arrived at the hotel on the and it was just fantastic. A very very nice hotel but hidden away in a beautiful kind of gate and courtyard experience; it was also very modern, but in a comfortable and welcoming way. The concierge at the time checked us in and took our bags, but did say our room wasn’t going to be available until closer to 12pm. He got us both our first coffee cream (cafe latte) of our trips, after which we then headed out for some initial Parisian exploration.

Tiredness Level: Fluctuating, but energy levels were rising now that we had found our hotel and had some coffee.

Funkiness Level: Rising steadily, but still tolerable. Shower definitely needed soon though.

Waiting in our hotel’s super charming lobby area

The Hotel du Jeu de Paume is a wonderful Rick Steves recommendation

They fixed us up a cafe creme during our arrival – much needed

Larry realizes I’ll be taking all the pictures all the time

That’s looking up the main atrium of the hotel – lots of charm here

Looking back towards the lobby and entry

Ready for the day?

A spiral staircase and a glass elevator

Exploring, Day 1 – Notre Dame, Rick Steves Historic Walk, St Chappele & Palais de Justice area and more breakfast

Our hotel was on Ile Saint-Louis, which is the island next to the island of Ile de Cite that Notre Dame sits on. So yeah, that was awesome, as when we walked down the street and crossed the bridge, excuse me, the Pont Saint-Louis, we were walking right up to the back of Notre Dame!

This is the street outside our hotel, the Rue St Louis en I’lle

Our first steps out and about as we had to wait a little bit for our room to be available

Our hotel was on the Ile Saint-Louis, which is the island right next to Ile De La Cite

Crossing the Seine

Gorgeous French architecture

Me & Larry

We crossed from our island to the De La Cite island – and yes, that’s the Notre Dame Cathedral from behind

Looking back towards our island

Early Sunday morning

POINTING

That early in the day, it was wonderful to walk around as it’s quite peaceful

Tower

Rose window from the outside

Towers amongst the grey skies.

It was also very early on a Sunday morning, so we had quite a bit of the area to ourselves. We of course then went in and visited Notre Dame, which was awesome as it was also during a service, so it was quite an experience. Plenty of pictures and a bit of guidance from Rick Steves. Larry hadn’t actually visited Notre Dame in his previous visit, so this was a great way to check that box and enjoy some peace at a massive tourist attraction before the hordes of tourists arrived. And arrive they did, by the busloads. Ah, the bourgeoisie! Continue reading Our First Day in Paris →

pictures

We Went on a Honeymoon!

September 25, 2016 Hobie Leave a comment

Hey, look at this – I’m posting on my site! YAY, for all of us. I’ve got over 2000 pictures to sift through and post on this here site, and dammit, it’s gonna happen. It’ll happen in bits and pieces, like all my mass photo collections do when I try to put them on the site, as there’s a lot of writing and captioning to do. And if you’re going to do something, might as well do it right.

So! As I’d mentioned before, Larry & I waited some time to go on our honeymoon as the time was right to wait due to vacation status as well as we got a pretty sweet deal through using my American miles and a very swank deal that American was running earlier this year using miles for business class flights to Europe. It was kind of nuts how it all came about, as it was back in January when I was like, we better figure out the whole honeymoon situation. And almost as if Facebook and Twitter read minds or something, a Points Guy post came through that indicated a deal to Europe using miles. It was kismet! Basically, 50k miles per person to get to Europe and another 50k miles per person to get back, for a total of 200k miles. I had about 140k miles stocked up already from some traveling but also by using my AAdvantage card. There were some direct flights from LAX to London available right when I checked that first day, but we didn’t jump on the deal then…and sure enough, when checking back just a few days later, all direct flights to Europe were gone and you had to now stop in JFK. Whatever, we’ll make it work, and so we booked an LAX to JFK flight with what ended up being a brief layover there, followed by a JFK to CDG (Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris) flight, all in Business Class; happily the direct flights back to LAX from London were still quite available, so we got that in Business Class too.

Business Class is Where It’s At

I’m spoiled. After our experience flying out and back in Business, I’m not sure I can travel amongst the commoners in Economy again….

That’s a Spy reference and if you haven’t seen this movie, you absolutely must, but that’s a tangent and let’s not get distracted by shiny objects just yet!

But seriously? Business Class is awesome. Much better food, drinks are included, and all the in-flight entertainment is part of the deal. And oh yeah, the seats recline all the way to a flat position. You may not actually want that, but the fact that you can recline like you’re in a la-z-boy chair is pretty damn sweet.

So if you can afford Business Class, or are thinking of saving it for a special occasion, DO IT. Completely worth it, especially if flying such a long way. Continue reading We Went on a Honeymoon! →

just a post

Off to the Continent!

September 9, 2016 Hobie Leave a comment

I’ve been slacking on posting here and it’s all for good reasons, I swear! Big Brother stopped interesting me, that’s for sure. Getting over Jeopardy! was another. Plus, I just didn’t have much to write about. EXCEPT OF COURSE THAT LARRY & I ARE FINALLY GOING ON OUR HONEYMOON! Off to Paris & London first thing tomorrow morning!!! Stay tuned for more pictures as we progress through, obviously.

just a post

What You Might Call Fat (MM)

August 16, 2010 Hobie Leave a comment

Gotta say, exercise hasn’t been my primary directive lately. And I am now at a state that I’d call not in shape. So I’m getting my act together. If you’ve heard of P90X, that’s what I’ve decided to do. Best thing is that you can do a lot of it at home. Anyway, wish me luck.

I attended a GE session in which they told us about the things that we would and wouldn’t be getting after the “transition” from being a GE company to being a “Joint Venture” between Comcast and NBC Universal. I can’t wait to be done with GE, primarily because of this year’s medical plan. Anything…anything, will be better than what we have now. I also hope that since we’ll be under a media company that they’ll insist we have beer carts on Fridays, jeans to work every day, and Segways to get around the floor. 🙂 A boy can dream.

Day 07 | A photo that makes you happy

This photo cracks me the hell up every time I see it. It was taken when Jason, Wendy and I went on a nearly three-week train trip all around Western Europe (Portugal, Spain, France, Germany, Austria, and Italy) in Spring 2002 (Oh MY GOD – how is that trip over 8 years ago?????). While in Paris, for some reason I was directing Jason to be all sad and to drag his finger down his cheek as if he was crying while we were at Napoleon’s Tomb. He kept refusing to do it and I kept insisting. Little did I realize that the whole place is a church filled with Jesus stuff so it really looked like I was being an atheist prick and mocking all the Christ dying on the cross stuff. Oops. He had a good laugh at my expense on that one. So after Napoleon’s tomb, relatively nearby is the Rodin Museum, where you can of course see the Thinker. Jason was still giving me shit about the earlier photo encounter, and this is the photo that resulted. Classic.

just a post

December 21, 2012 (T-173)

March 11, 2007 Hobie Leave a comment

A book I’m reading (Apocalypse 2012 – no, it’s not a religious book – I found it in the Science section) says that this is the date of the end of the world. Plan accordingly.

But why dwell on such scary stuff right now? As I read more (and sleep less), I’ll fill you in.

Not too much to report on in the week since I’ve updated. This last week flew by (probably helped by the fact that I took Tuesday off to care for a hangover – Monday night is NOT the best time to go out, drink, and stay up late). This weekend was fun and it actually RAINED here – not snow. In fact, we’re due for near 70-degree temperatures this week. But of course in a few weeks, it could return to being snowy and cold. I hope so, as I’d love one more chance to ski this season. I never made it to Vail and I really would like to ski there.

Concerning the Europe trip, another modification has been made: no more Normandy. Apparently the guy that Jeff was going to re-enlist found out that he isn’t allowed to reenlist, without permission, off a base installation. And his commanders are not giving him permission. Lame! So now the trip is just Paris and London….so boring…..NOT!!!! Bring it on. I can’t wait to see those cities again! And that’s in just over two weeks. Sweeet.

I picked up a new camera for the upcoming trip – it’s on its way to me and believe you me, it’s a monster. Still a small form factor BUT 10MP yo.

And in movie news, I saw ‘300’ on Friday night in IMAX goodness. Unfreakinbelievable. And watching a movie in IMAX is so immersive and nearly overwhelming.

Alright, this daylight savings time nonsense has got me all whacked out. I went hiking this afternoon at the Garden of the Gods (reminding me that it’s about time to bring out the Colorado Hiking book I have and knock out some/most of these trails in preparation for hiking Pike’s Peak!) and woke up late this morning but I’m STILL tired.